Chapter 1:

The Journey begins. [ 第一章 ]

SAMURAI OF ALBION. (VOL1)


A new morning has come. Jin, a young teenage boy wakes up scratching his head and yawning. He leaves for the river which is next to the small cottage he lives in with his old man. He washes his sleepy face with the cold water ‘’Brrr, I always forget how cold it is in the morning.’’ Jin said to himself. He ties his long black hair making a ponytail, and goes back to the cottage to wake up his old man after filling a bucket with water.

‘’Mentor, mentor.’’ He quietly said.

No response from the sleepy old man.

‘’Mentor, I will go to the nearby forest to pick up some herbs for the tea. I will be back.’’

Happy Jin goes to the nearby forest while holding a small bag. As he was looking for the herbs he wants, he finds a girl with blonde short hair picking up yellow berries from a small plant.

‘’Those are poisonous,’’ Jin said to the girl.

The girl looks at her right to what seems to her a girl wearing a never seen before dress.

the girl tilted her head and asked innocently ‘’How do you know?’’ 

Jin approaches her, squats down next to her, and grabs one of the yellow berries. ‘’I know because of the color and where it is growing from. This plant isn’t the one you should look for.’’

While he was talking, all that the girl was thinking about is how nice Jin smelled.

‘’You should look for black or blueberries growing from a shrub,’’ Jin told her with a smile on his face.

The girl stood up and thanked Jin. ‘’You know a lot! Do you live around here?’’

Jin stood up as well and replied “Yes, I come here to grab some herbs for my mentor.’’

The curious girl’s face changed when he said herbs. ‘’Oh, herbs? What for?’’

‘’ I use them to make green tea.’’

A moment of silence between the two till the girl asked ‘’What is green tea?’’

Confused Jin never thought in his life that no one knows about tea till this moment.

‘’W-Well it is a drink! You just take hot boiling water and the herbs and mixed them in a pot.’’ Jin explained awkwardly.

‘’Oh! I never thought something like this existed!’’

Jin looks at the happy girl and asks her while avoiding eye contact ‘’Do you want to try it?’’ scratching the back of his head ‘’I live next to the river from here with my mentor. You can come.’’

The happy girl got more excited and her eyes glowed ‘’ Is it okay for me to come?’’

‘’ Yes.’’ Shy Jin replied.

‘’Oh, I have two friends with me. Can they come as well?’’

‘’Yeah. No problem.’’

As she jumps with happiness, they hear a noise of a fight.

The girl looks where the noise came from worried ‘’That’s where my camp is.’’ she said quietly to herself.

She rushes to where her camp was, leaving her bag on the ground ‘’I have to go, I will come back!’’ she waves back as she is running. Confused Jin notices her leaving her bag, and shouts to her about it but she didn’t hear him.

While the girl is getting closer to her camp, running towards the light at the end of the forest, she hears more noise coming from swords clanging. When she gets out, she sees her two friends fighting two buff guys. From their clothing, it seems they are bandits.

‘’Seth! Edward! What is happening?’’

‘’Emily! Be careful, there is another one hiding.’’

‘’Hello there!’’ a voice coming from behind.

She looks back to see a bald-brown buff guy grabbing Jin from his neck with his arm, holding a knife with the other hand, exiting the forest.

‘’Now, you guys should listen to us and surrender before something bad happens.’’ the bald guy said smirking.

Emily tries to reach for her bag, but she found it missing.

Smiling Jin despite the situation tells her ‘’Um, I tried to tell you that you forgot your bag but you didn’t hear me.’’

‘’Now, put your swords down you two, and kneel!’’ He ordered Seth and Edward.

‘’Tch’’

Seth and Edward put down their swords and did as the bandit told them.

‘’Leave that person alone, they have nothing to do with this!’’ Emily shouted

All three bandits started laughing at her ‘’What an oblivious girl! We are bandits! B-A-N-D-I-T-S. We will do whatever it takes to get what we want!’’

The bandit signals to his other two friends. They started beating up Seth and Edward and laughing. With each kick, Emily gets angrier and about to tear up. The bandits notice and start picking up on her.

‘’Hahaha, look she’s about to cry for her friends. Poor girl!’’

The bandit who is grabbing Jin starts laughing hysterically ‘’Did you think you guys will have a fun, epic adventure with no problems at all? You kids are such a waste of a life.’’ he then orders his buddies to take whatever belongings they have and tie up Seth and Edward.

After listening to what the bandit said about Emily and her friends, Jin’s whole aura changed.

‘’Who are you to decide that?’’

‘’Hm? Oh, I forgot you were here, you’re so fragile I can crush your neck in an instant.’’ said the bandit as he slightly squeezes Jin’s neck between his forearm and biceps.

‘’No life is a waste; no goal is superior to another one.’’ Jin glared. The bandit looks at his vicious black eyes, and he immediately tries to stab him with the knife. ‘’Die!’’

Jin kicks the bandit’s inner knee which made him lose balance. In a flash, he leans a bit to the front while grabbing him from his shirt and his arm and throwing him to the ground in one motion, knocking him out. The other two bandits are surprised and rush him with their swords. Jin quickly changes to a stance as if he is grabbing a sword. With lightning speed, he attacks them dodging their swings. Both bandits kneel from pain after getting hit.

‘’H-How did he manage to hit us without anything on his hands?’’

‘’Ugh...’’

‘’ I will give you a chance, take your friend and leave,’’ Jin told the bandits.

They looked at each other realizing they can’t win. They grab their knocked-out friend and left.

Emily rushes to her friends Seth and Edward. ‘’Are you two okay? I’m so sorry I couldn’t help and just get in the way.’’ she wipes her tears.

‘’Don’t worry Emily! Everything is okay now.’’ said the smiley Edward as he scratches the back of his orange hair.

‘’You should’ve understood the situation better. And where is your grimoire?’’ Said Seth as he wipes his black clothes from dirt.

Angry Edward grabs Seth by the collar of his shirt ‘’Hey you bastard! You shouldn’t speak like that to Emily.’’

‘’ I speak the way I want to speak.’’

‘’What is that supposed to mean huh?’’

Jin approaches the trio and says with a big smile ‘’ I’m glad you guys are okay.’’

Emily surprises Jin by hugging him. ‘’Thank you for saving us!’’

Edward stood up and shakes his hand ‘’ Hey that was very impressive!’’ Both he and Emily think Jin is a girl.

‘’Oh my! I forgot we didn’t introduce ourselves. My name is Emily. The orange boy is Edward and the serious one over there grabbing his sword is Seth.’’

‘’My name is Jin. Nice to meet you all.’’ Jin replied with the warmest smile.

‘’Nice to meet you too Jin.’’

‘’Oh, by the way, where is your bag, Emily?’’ Edward said to Emily.

Emily freaks out that she forgot about her bag. Jin calms her down, telling her that she left it where they were in the forest with his bag.

‘’After you get your bag, we moving,’’ said Seth.

‘’huh? Why?’’

‘’Those bandits might return.’’

‘’This time, we will give them a hell of a beating for what they did.’’ Said the excited Edward bumping both his fists together.

‘’Yeah yeah, pick your sword and let’s move.’’ sarcastically Seth replied.

‘’Oi, you want to fight huh?’’ Edward said as veins pop up from his forehead while Emily laughed.

The group heads to where Emily’s bag was at.

On their way, Emily asked Jin about what was that thing he did to beat up the bandits.

‘’Oh, that was magic power.’’

‘’I see.’’

‘’You don’t seem surprised...’’ said Jin.

‘’Well, I also use magic! hihi’’ Emily replied with a smile.

‘’Me too! I use it as well!’’ Edward jumps in at the conversation.

‘’well not just me or Edward, but most of the people in the world can use it.’’

‘’I didn’t know...’’ Jin said as he tries to hide his sadness.

Emily and Edward realized that Jin thought he was unique and quickly try to cheer him up.

‘’About the way you used your magic, I have never seen someone uses it like that!’’ said Emily.

‘’Oh, my mentor thought me how to control my magic power.’’

Seth got curious and asked him ‘’ What do you mean by control your magic power?’’

‘’oh, well how to shape my magic and how to use it. It was a hard process,’’ replied Jin scratching his head.

‘’That is so cool! Your mentor must be a well-known master.’’ Edward replied with excitement written all over his face.

‘’T-Thank you, we can all go meet him, I live with him nearby.’’ Shy Jin replied.

‘’Also, those bandits won’t find you there.’’

Emily looks back at Edward nodding to go, and both look at Seth to approve. Seth sees them grinning which made him uncomfortable.

Seth sighs ‘’We can go.’’

Happy Emily and Edward jump with happiness ‘’Yay! Yay!’’

‘’I forgot to tell you guys about what Jin will make for us. It’s called green tea!’’

A moment of silence and staring at each other before Seth and Edward asked ‘’What is green tea?’’

The group reached where Emily and Jin first met, took their bags, and started helping Jin pick up herbs for the tea.

‘’We should take some flowers for Jin’s master.’’ Said Emily.

‘’Oh! That is a wonderful idea, Emily. Let’s do it!’’ Edward replied.

Both started looking for flowers while Jin and Seth stayed.

‘’You! What was that swordsmanship?’’ Seth asked Jin.

‘’Um, what do you mean?’’

‘’The way you stood, the way you hold your sword, the way you moved, those weren’t skills of an amateur.’’

Jin stayed silent, picking up herbs.

Emily and Edward return with a bouquet of handpicked flowers.

They continued walking to where Jin lives. Finally, they reached the cottage.

‘’Come on in! My mentor is probably awake right now.’’

They all enter the small house and see the old man sleeping in the corner.

‘’Could you guys take down your shoes before you enter? It’s one of the traditions from where my mentor is from. I will make tea right away after I wake him up.’’ Said Jin quietly.

Emily, Edward, and Seth all took their shoes off and sat at the other corner. Jin approaches his old man.

‘’Mentor, we have guests.’’

No response from the sleeping old man.

‘’Mentor, Wake up.’’

Still no response from the old man.

Jin then lightly taps him on his arm. He notices how cold he is, even though the weather is sunny. He also notices how pale he is.

‘’Mentor, please wake up,’’ Jin said with a worrying tone leaving Emily, Edward, and Seth questioning what is happening.

‘’Mentor, wake up, please. I beg of you!’’ choked-up Jin said while moving his old man back and forth in his bed and shouting. This made Emily and the others come to see what is going on.

‘’Jin...’’ Emily said nervously.

Poor trembling Jin is on his knees, grabbing his mentor from his clothes. They all realized what happened, but no one could say anything. The old man, Jin’s mentor was already gone. For a moment, they all stood up silently watching Jin crying. Emily finally took the courage and hugs him from the back without saying anything as she tries to hold her tears.

Jin remembers yesterday when his mentor fell ill for the day. Jin sitting on the bonfire inside the cottage while the old man is on his bed.

‘’Tell me, mentor, what kind of world is out there? You traveled almost the whole world.’’ Jin said as he gazes through the burning wood.

‘’What do you think mentor about going back to your homeland? I want to see where you grew up. I want to see the huge rice fields you told me about and to see and climb the holy mountains.’’

‘’oh, I talked too much didn’t I? Jin laughs scratching the back of his head.

The old man picks up his stick and starts writing on the floor. Jin was watching every move to understand what he is trying to say.

‘’Live...your...life...to...the...fullest. Right?’’ Jin smiles back at his old man.

Back in the present, Jin realized that those were the last words of his mentor to him. To live his life to the fullest. He stood up, wipes his tears, looks back at Emily, Edward, and Seth, and asked them ‘’Could you help me bury him?’’

Hours have passed, and the blue sky turned orange. Jin and the group have buried the mentor next to the cottage, marking the grave with a big rock at the end carved at its surface with the name ‘’Musashi’’. As Jin prays for his mentor, Emily and the others put that bouquet of flowers on the grave and leave him alone.

‘’I wasn’t expecting this would happen,’’ said Edward.

‘’The man was already dead hours judging by his skin,’’ Seth replied.

The devastated Emily couldn’t say a word.

‘’Oh, how about we ask Jin to join us?’’

When Emily heard what Edward said, her face got brighter. ‘’Yes, we should!’’

The night has fallen, and the moon has shined on Jin and the others. As they are sitting around the bonfire drinking tea.

‘’This tea...Is so delicious!’’ Edward said.

‘’You’re right! It's so warm to the heart!’’ Emily expresses her gratitude for the tea that Jin made.

Jin was still feeling a bit down.

‘’Jin.’’

‘’Oh, my bad... I spaced out for a second.’’

A moment of awkward silence occurred while everyone drinking their tea in silence.

Emily breaks the silence ‘’Jin, we want you to accompany us on our journey!’’

‘’Huh?’’

‘’Yeah! Join us, aren’t we friends?’’ Edward said smiling.

Jin didn’t know what to say.

Seth puts down his cup of tea, crosses his arms, and spoke to Jin ‘’Look! Your mentor died, there is no return from that. You can keep whining and crying all you want, that won’t change what happened.’’

Emily interrupts Seth. ‘’Seth! That’s rude.’’

‘’Or you can move forward. Live your life, achieve your goals. That’s what your mentor would've wanted you to do.’’

Seth stood up ‘’Thanks for the tea and for the accommodation. We will hear your response tomorrow.’’

Edward followed Seth to scold him for how rude he was to Jin. Emily kept looking at poor Jin with his face down.

‘’Jin...’’

He lifted his face and smiled ‘’I am okay Emily! You should rest.’’

Emily left him alone after she thanked him for the tea.

Jin kept sitting alone looking at the fire burning, reminiscing on the old days with his mentor. He smiled, he laughed, he cried. Till he went inside the cottage to sleep.

Meanwhile, the three bandits have arrived at their gang hideout and were about to meet their boss.

‘’What happened to you all? Where is the loot?’’

‘’Boss... those kids were strong. One of them beat us all.

‘’We didn’t expect them to be that strong!’’

‘’I see, I feel sorry for you three. Go rest.’’

‘’Thank you, boss. We will go after them tomorrow.’’

As they left, the boss speaks to his two henchmen who were next to him the whole time.

‘’Kill these three useless pricks and toss their bodies away from here. Also, tomorrow, find those brats and bring me that thing.’’

‘’Yes, boss.’’

A brand-new morning has come. Emily, Edward, and Seth woke up to the smell of tea. They see Jin making it at the entrance of the cottage.

‘’Good morning guys!’’ Jin smiled at the sleepy Emily, Edward, and Seth.

They all went to wash their faces at the river and sat down to drink the tea.

‘’Ah! Tea in the morning is so refreshing to the soul!’’ Emily said while Edward nodded with happiness.

‘’Everyone.’’ Jin suddenly said.

‘’I would like to thank you all properly for yesterday!’’ as he bows down to them.

‘’N-No needs, we owe you for helping us with those bandits anyways.’’ Shy Emily replied.

‘’Also, can I join you guys on your journey?’’

‘’huh?’’

Jin lifts his face smiling. Emily and Edward rush to hug him, happy to hear what he said.

Seth stood up and left the cottage. Jin was wondering why he left.

‘’Don’t worry, he doesn’t show his emotions. I am sure he is glad to have you with us.’’ Emily told Jin.

After the tea, everyone gathered their bags and was waiting outside. On the other hand, Jin opened up a secret hidden place on the floor of the cottage, to find his mentor’s katana. He grabs his other belongings and puts them in his bag. He then leaves the cottage, straight to where his mentor was buried and prays for him again.

‘’Mentor, thank you for everything you did for me. I will live my life to the fullest.’’

With this, Jin, Emily, Edward, and Seth have started on their journey. Each and, everyone has a goal on their mind. The adventure begins.

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